# 401kHunter: Pricing, What It Does, and a Fair Comparison *FiduciarySignal — updated 2026-10-05. Canonical: https://www.fiduciarysignal.com/alternatives/401khunter* 401kHunter is a self-serve Form 5500 search and prospecting tool for financial advisors: searching is free without an account, and credits unlock plan financials, decision-maker contacts, and direct phone numbers. Its pricing page publishes one-time credit packs from $25 at 10¢ a credit and 50 free credits at signup. Pro is $100/month or $1,000/year. Monthly includes 1,500 credits; its FAQ lists the annual price and all 18,000 credits delivered up front, while the pricing page shows the annual option as "2 months free". Source: [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) and [FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq) (as published, read 2026-10-05). It grades plans A–D on filed administrative fees and refreshes monthly from Department of Labor filings. FiduciarySignal, published at $90 a month after a 7-day trial or $900 a year, is built for a different job: ranking which plans in a territory are most likely to change providers, and when. Source: [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) and [401kHunter FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq) (as published, read 2026-09-23). If you have spent any time researching 401(k) prospecting software this year, you have run into 401kHunter. It publishes its prices, it lets you search before you hand over an email address, and it maintains its own library of comparison pages. This page answers the questions people type next to the name: what 401kHunter costs, what it does, what data it uses, whether there is a free plan, who it suits, and how it compares with FiduciarySignal. One disclosure before anything else: we build FiduciarySignal, a competing product. That is exactly why every fact about 401kHunter below carries the URL we read it on and the date we read it. Check the work rather than taking our word for it. ## What is 401kHunter? In its own site footer, 401kHunter describes itself as 401(k) plan discovery and prospecting for financial advisors, sourced from public DOL Form 5500 filings. Its homepage organizes the product around three jobs: uncovering 401(k) takeover opportunities, where every plan with filed fee data is graded A–D and, in its words, "ranked by switching signals"; finding businesses that need a startup plan; and surfacing rollover leads from terminated and merged plans. The working model is simple. Search is free and needs no account. You spend credits only when you unlock something — a plan's full financials, a decision-maker's contact details, a direct phone line. Source: [401kHunter homepage](https://www.401khunter.com/) and [pricing page](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) (as published, read 2026-09-23). ## 401kHunter pricing: what does it cost? Unusually for this category, the whole price list is public — on a page you can read without booking a call. Here is what it showed when we read it: | Option | Published price | What it includes, as published | |---|---|---| | Search | Free, no account needed | Search any plan and see its fee grade, plan size, location, and sponsor name | | Signup credits | Free | 50 credits at signup, no card required | | One-time credit packs | From $25 (250-credit minimum at 10¢ per credit); 1,000 credits for $100.00 — [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) (as published, read 2026-10-05) | No subscription; credits never expire | | Pro, monthly | $100/month | 1,500 credits a month that roll over; A–D fee grades, full Schedule H and C data, CSV export | | Pro, annual | Annual toggle labeled "2 months free" — [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) (as published, read 2026-10-05) | No annual dollar figure displayed on the pricing page as fetched | | Enterprise | Custom pricing | Multiple seats, pooled credits, and onboarding for teams and agencies | What a credit buys, per the same page: a plan's financials and fee analysis cost 10 credits, a decision-maker contact 30, a direct phone line 20, and a plan-signer contact 30 when the signer is a different person. Failed lookups are refunded automatically. At the credit-pack rate of 10¢ a credit, that works out to $1 for a plan's financials and $3 for a decision-maker's contact. Source: [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing), [FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq), and [methodology](https://www.401khunter.com/methodology) (as published, read 2026-09-23). The practical question with any metered model is volume, so run your own numbers before you choose a tier. Unlock the financials and the decision-maker on 40 plans in a month and you have spent 40 × (10 + 30) = 1,600 credits — just over one month of Pro. Work a handful of plans deeply and a credit pack may be all you ever buy. Export thousands and the meter becomes the main line item. None of that is a flaw; it is what pay-as-you-go means, and it rewards knowing your own usage. ## Is there a free 401kHunter plan or free trial? In practice there is a free tier, and it is genuinely useful. Searching is free and works without an account, and signing up adds 50 free credits with no card required — enough, by the pricing page's own description, to unlock a first plan and its decision-maker. Its FAQ is candid that there is no conventional trial of Pro: the Pro plan is month-to-month and cancellable, which the FAQ calls "the closest thing to a trial." Source: [401kHunter FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq) and [pricing page](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) (as published, read 2026-09-23). ## What data does 401kHunter use? The foundation is the same public record every tool in this category reads: the Department of Labor's Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF filings and their schedules — Schedule C service-provider compensation, Schedule H and I financial statements, and others — refreshed monthly as the DOL publishes its bulk files. Its methodology page lists more than 15 public sources joined to those filings. Decision-maker contacts are not part of the public record; the same page says they come from licensed business-contact providers, are checked against the sponsor's company domain, and are returned with a confidence score rather than described as verified. Two details on that page are worth knowing before you buy anything. First, the A–D fee grade is administrative expenses divided by end-of-year assets — A at 0.5% of assets or less, D above 1.5% — and fund expense ratios are not in it, because Form 5500 does not report them; its FAQ calls the grade a simplified screening metric. Second, the freshness limit is the one every Form 5500 tool lives with, ours included: its FAQ says the most recent year in the database is typically 12 to 18 months old. That is not a knock on anyone. It is the filing calendar. Source: [401kHunter methodology](https://www.401khunter.com/methodology) (as published, updated September 17, 2026; read 2026-09-23) and [FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq) (read 2026-09-23). ## 401kHunter review: what it does well A comparison that concedes nothing is a comparison you should distrust. Here is the real list, drawn from what 401kHunter publishes: - **Published, self-serve pricing.** Every number is on a public page — free search, credit packs from $25, Pro at $100/month — and you can buy without a sales call. Most of this category still quotes. - **Free search before you pay anything.** You can see fee grades, plan size, location, and sponsor name without creating an account. - **Pay-as-you-go credits that never expire.** A good fit for an advisor who works a small number of plans deeply rather than exporting thousands. - **Fee-grade triage.** Sorting straight to plans whose filed administrative costs look high gives a takeover conversation a clean, checkable opening. - **Documented method and stated limits.** Its methodology page explains how grades, provider identification, and contact confidence work, and lists what the data cannot tell you. Failed lookups are refunded automatically. - **Breadth beyond existing plans.** Startup-plan and rollover prospecting are built in. FiduciarySignal is built around plans that already file, so if either of those is your business, that is a real point in its favor. Source: [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing), [homepage](https://www.401khunter.com/), and [methodology](https://www.401khunter.com/methodology) (as published, read 2026-09-23). Its comparison hub also commits to a standard we respect: it says each comparison quotes every vendor's own published figures, with the source and the month read, and says where the other tool is the better choice. Source: [401kHunter compare](https://www.401khunter.com/compare) (entries dated September 17, 2026; read 2026-09-23). This page is not a user review, and we are not publishing ratings or review counts — we have not verified any. It is a sourced description of what 401kHunter publishes about itself, written by a competitor and labeled as such. ## 401kHunter vs FiduciarySignal Same public filings in. A different question asked of them. 401kHunter is built to help you find and open plans: search, grade on fees, identify providers, unlock the decision-maker, export. Its homepage also describes takeover opportunities as ranked by switching signals. On the pages we read on 2026-09-23 — home, pricing, FAQ, methodology, and compare — we did not find a published validation of that ranking, such as an outcome sample or a base rate it beats, so we make no claim either way about how it performs. FiduciarySignal is built around that second question, and publishes how it was tested: which plans in a territory are most likely to change providers — and when. | | 401kHunter | FiduciarySignal | |---|---|---| | Core job | Find, grade, and unlock plans: free search, A–D fee grades, provider identification, decision-maker contacts, CSV export | Rank a territory by the calibrated odds of a winnable provider change, then arm the first call | | Published pricing | Free search; 50 free credits at signup; credit packs from $25; Pro $100/month or $1,000/year; FAQ lists the annual price and all 18,000 credits delivered up front; pricing page labels the annual option "2 months free"; Enterprise custom — [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) and [FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq) (as published, read 2026-10-05) | $90/month after a 7-day trial (card at checkout), or $900/year billed today with no trial | | Pricing model | Metered: pay per unlock, in credits | One flat subscription, monthly or annual | | What the score means | A–D fee grade: filed administrative expenses divided by end-of-year assets | Calibrated likelihood of a winnable change, back-tested against the next year's Form 5500 filings | | Freshness | Monthly refresh of DOL filings; latest year typically 12–18 months old, per its FAQ | The same filings, plus 25 distinct switch signals — eleven of them live feeds, refreshed weekly | | Contacts | Decision-maker contacts from licensed providers, confidence-scored; failed lookups refunded | The Form 5500 signer's contact details, included in the plan | | Output | Client-ready plan reports (branded PDF or share link) and CSV export | Per-plan talking points plus a merge-ready outreach email grounded in that plan's filing; weekly territory digests | | Beyond existing plans | Startup-plan and rollover prospecting | Not offered — built around plans that already file | Source: [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing), [FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq), [methodology](https://www.401khunter.com/methodology), and [homepage](https://www.401khunter.com/) (as published, read 2026-09-23). FiduciarySignal terms are on [our pricing page](https://www.fiduciarysignal.com/pricing). What sits behind the right-hand column is the **Pre-Switch Signal Stack**: 25 distinct switch signals — eleven of them live feeds, timestamped and refreshed weekly — layered on a model trained on 8.9 million Form 5500 filings across ten years and back-tested against the next year's Form 5500 filings. It is strongest at the top of the ranking. We do not publish which signals, and that is deliberate: every cue we print is a cue a copycat ships next quarter. And the limit, stated the way we state it to customers: this is a work-the-top-of-the-list tool. Calibrated likelihoods, never certainty about any single plan, strongest at the top of the ranking. ## Why the timing layer is the expensive part The truth is, a better database does not fix the costliest part of 401(k) prospecting. According to [Sharon Pivirotto of 401kbestpractices.com](https://401kbestpractices.com/cold-calling-tips/), "90% or more of all plans you're introduced to won't have a need." Yet according to Fidelity, as reported by [Fred Barstein at WealthManagement.com](https://www.wealthmanagement.com/rpa-news/401-k-plan-sponsors-are-demanding-more-from-their-advisor), 22% of plan sponsors were actively searching for a new advisor in 2023, and 37% made a change over the prior 12 months. Sponsors move constantly, and most of your conversations still reach the ones who are not moving. That is an ordering problem, not a data problem. A fee grade tells you which plans looked expensive on their last filing. A timing layer is about which of them are likely to act — and when you should be the one on the phone. ## Who is 401kHunter best for? By its own positioning, financial advisors working 401(k) takeovers — plus startup-plan and rollover prospecting — who want to search before paying and buy data one unlock at a time. Its Enterprise tier adds seats and pooled credits for RIA teams and agencies. It fits best when your workflow is research-first and metered: find plans whose filed fees look high, unlock the decision-maker, send a branded plan review. Source: [401kHunter homepage](https://www.401khunter.com/) and [pricing page](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) (as published, read 2026-09-23). ## 401kHunter or FiduciarySignal: which should you choose? Choose **401kHunter** if you want self-serve search and pay-per-unlock data at a published price, you work a limited number of plans deeply, or startup-plan and rollover prospecting are part of your practice. Nothing on this page argues against that. Choose **FiduciarySignal** if your bottleneck is not finding plans but choosing among them — which eleven to call this week, with the reason attached and a ready-to-send email for each — on one flat published price: $90 a month after a 7-day trial, or $900 a year. Some advisors will run both: a metered search tool for lookups and contacts, a timing layer for the calling order. That is a sensible answer. Just be clear which of the two problems is costing you meetings, because that is the one worth paying to solve first. ## Related guides - [The Best 401(k) Prospecting Tools: A Fair, Sourced Comparison](https://www.fiduciarysignal.com/tools/best-401k-prospecting-tools) - [Judy Diamond Associates: Prospector, Pricing, and a Fair Comparison](https://www.fiduciarysignal.com/alternatives/judy-diamond) - [AdvizorPro PlanPro: What It Is, Who It Is For, and What It Costs](https://www.fiduciarysignal.com/alternatives/advizorpro) ## Frequently asked questions ### How much does 401kHunter cost? Its pricing page publishes free search, 50 free credits at signup, and one-time credit packs from $25 at 10¢ a credit. Pro is $100/month or $1,000/year. Monthly includes 1,500 credits; its FAQ lists the annual price and all 18,000 credits delivered up front, while the pricing page shows the annual option as "2 months free". Enterprise is custom-priced. Credits never expire. Source: [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) and [FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq) (as published, read 2026-10-05) — confirm current terms before you budget. Source: [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) and [FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq) (as published, read 2026-09-23). ### Does 401kHunter have a free plan or a free trial? Search is free and works without an account, and signup adds 50 free credits with no card required. Its FAQ says there is no conventional trial of Pro: the Pro plan is month-to-month and cancellable, which it calls the closest thing to a trial. Source: [401kHunter FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq) and [pricing page](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) (as published, read 2026-09-23). ### What data does 401kHunter use? Public Department of Labor Form 5500 and 5500-SF filings and their schedules, refreshed monthly, joined to more than 15 public sources according to its methodology page. Decision-maker contacts come from licensed business-contact providers and carry a confidence score. Its A–D fee grade is filed administrative expenses divided by end-of-year assets, and excludes fund expense ratios. Source: [401kHunter methodology](https://www.401khunter.com/methodology) and [FAQ](https://www.401khunter.com/faq) (as published, read 2026-09-23). ### Is 401kHunter a good 401(k) prospecting tool? For self-serve search and pay-per-unlock data, it has real strengths: published pricing, free search without an account, credits that never expire, fee-grade triage, a documented methodology with stated limits, and automatic refunds on failed lookups. This is a competitor's sourced description, not a user review; we do not publish ratings we have not verified. Source: [401kHunter pricing](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) and [methodology](https://www.401khunter.com/methodology) (as published, read 2026-09-23). ### Who is 401kHunter best for? By its own positioning, financial advisors working 401(k) takeovers, plus startup-plan and rollover prospecting, who want to search before paying and buy data one unlock at a time. Its Enterprise tier adds seats and pooled credits for teams and agencies. Source: [401kHunter homepage](https://www.401khunter.com/) and [pricing page](https://www.401khunter.com/pricing) (as published, read 2026-09-23). ### What is the difference between 401kHunter and FiduciarySignal? Both start from public Form 5500 filings. 401kHunter is built to find, fee-grade, and unlock plans and their decision-makers on a metered, pay-per-unlock model. FiduciarySignal is built to rank which plans in a territory are most likely to make a winnable provider change — trustee, custodian, recordkeeper or administrator — back-tested against the next year's Form 5500 filings, on one flat published price of $90 a month after a 7-day trial or $900 a year. ### How much does FiduciarySignal cost? FiduciarySignal publishes one All Access plan. FiduciarySignal's monthly plan is $90 a month after a 7-day free trial, with a card at checkout and the first charge on day 8; cancel before then and you pay nothing, and there is one trial per account. FiduciarySignal's annual plan is $900 a year, billed in full today, with no trial. Both are self-serve on the pricing page, with no quote or sales call required. ### How accurate is the Change Predictor? It was back-tested against the next year's Form 5500 filings. It is strongest at the top of the ranking — a work-the-top-of-the-list tool producing calibrated likelihoods, never certainty about any single plan. --- [All alternatives](https://www.fiduciarysignal.com/alternatives/) [Score My Territory](https://www.fiduciarysignal.com/auth/register)